Uruguay and Brazil inaugurated on Monday the first binational airport in the Americas in the Uruguayan department of Rivera (north), bordering both countries and one of the projects agreed in January by Presidents Luis Lacalle Pou and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The Rivera airport facilities will be used for the operation of air services equivalent to domestic operations for Brazilian companies with origin and destination airports in that country.
In this sense, during the inauguration, the Uruguayan president expressed his gratitude to his Brazilian counterpart for the realization of “this transcendental work”.
“The use and development will tell if it was important. I believe that there was listening, political decision, confidence in the word. The pledged word that I thanked President Lula for the other day”, he said.
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He pointed out the importance of this new air infrastructure for his country as well as the coincidence with Lula for the development of air transportation for both nations.
“We are managing to stand on the foot, next to the Uruguayan people in need, regardless of the distance. This is real decentralization, not on paper,” the Uruguayan president said.
For his part, the governor of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, described this project as a “symbol of progress” and explained that the flights between Rivera and Porto Alegre will have the same tax benefits as their regional flights, which means lower taxes.
The works for the remodeling of the air terminal included the expansion, refurbishment and renovation of the aeronautical infrastructure, providing the opportunity to generate greater connectivity between the two countries.
It was confirmed that the Brazilian airline Azul will have a direct flight between Rivera and Porto Alegre.
The modernization process at Rivera began in March of this year and involved an investment of US$ 13 million (about 12 million euros), earmarked for the modernization and expansion of the passenger terminal.
In addition, improvements were made to the control tower and the renovation of the aeronautical communications system, which includes an internal fiber optic network.
In addition, facilities for the National Air Police were upgraded and a new fire department was built.
With information from EFE
Plataforma Informativa de Aviación Comercial líder en América Latina.